News briefs and information from Federal agencies and Capitol Hill on government activities, legislation, and grants of interest to the telemedicine, telehealth, and health IT community. Edited by Carolyn Bloch.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Survey Shows Benefits for HIT

Doctors that are routine users of health IT obtained significant more benefits in healthcare delivery, according to a new Accenture online survey of 3,700 doctors across eight countries. These countries included the U.S. Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Singapore, and Spain. Five hundred physicians were interviewed per country and 200 physicians were interviewed in Singapore between August and September 2011.

Global findings show that doctors agree that HIT improves clinical data by 70.9 percent, coordination of care by 69.1 percent, and reduces medical errors by 66 percent. In general, doctors in Singapore and Spain perceive a more positive impact compared to their counterparts in the U.S. and Australia.

Specifically, U.S. physicians rate the benefits of EMRs and HIEs lower than their international colleagues, and the U.S has the lowest number of doctors (45 percent) who think health IT will improve diagnostic decisions as compared to 61 percent globally. Only 47 percent of U.S. doctors reported that healthcare technology has improved the quality of their treatment decisions as compared to 61 percent globally.

The survey showed an age divide and a statistically significant contrast in attitudes among doctors above or below 50 years of age. The study found that doctors under 50 are more likely to believe that health IT has a positive impact across a wide range or perceived benefits. But more than 72 percent of doctors under 50 think EMRs and HIEs will improve care coordination across settings and service boundaries and 73 percent believe that these technologies will offer better access to quality data for clinical research.

Key research reports:

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